


how you remind me

by SunshineBomb



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hair Dyeing, Kinda? Not really, Light Angst, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Not Beta Read, Not Proofread, POV Alternating, Rated T for language, Yes. yes i did, and gets his nose pierced, because he's going through it, did i name this after a nickelback song?, hongjoong impulsively dyes his hair, hongjoong just needs a hug, seonghwa best boy, seongjoong, whoops i'm projecting again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26210539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineBomb/pseuds/SunshineBomb
Summary: Hongjoong impulsively decides to dye his hair and pierce his nose because he's sad and stressed.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 89





	how you remind me

**Author's Note:**

> yes i named this after a nickelback song and yes i did it on purpose
> 
> when i say i have only been listening to how you remind me on repeat for the past two days, i am not exaggerating.
> 
> anyways enjoyyy :)

The flat is empty when Hongjoong gets back. It’s starting to get dark out, and all the lights are off, leaving the place in near-total darkness. He doesn’t turn on any of the lights just yet, instead blindly kicking his shoes off and heading straight for the bathroom. He flips the light switch, squinting against the too-bright fluorescent lights that now illuminate the better part of the flat. Closing the door behind him and locking it, he throws the plastic bag in the sink, wincing at the loud sound of the various pieces of plastic banging against the porcelain sink. Sighing, he turns to the mirror above the sink.

He really shouldn’t be doing this. 

He should be saving up for a new place and next semester’s worth of tuition, not impulsively running to the nearest beauty supply store to buy an insane amount of hair dyeing supplies. But he just needed a change. All the stress from his part-time job at a piercing shop, plus school, plus the usual day-to-day stress and anxiety was all starting to pile up, and he had finally reached his breaking point. For the past few months, he had been going about more or less the same monotonous routine, wallowing in his usual semi-depressive slump, but today, something snapped. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to, but as soon as he got off work, he asked one of the older piercers in his shop to pierce his nose. It wasn’t a piercing he had ever thought about wanting before, but he could always take it out if he didn’t like it. She agreed, and after getting his new piercing, he bolted off to get bleach and hair dye. On the way, he even deviated from his usual playlist, choosing instead to listen to random, somewhat-memeable rock that he swears he hasn’t listened to since middle school. He knows he’s going a bit crazy, and this isn’t like him, but he’s not sure what else to do.

Sighing again, he starts taking the various bottles and boxes out of the bag. He looks up at his tired reflection in the mirror, at the dark, overgrown roots among his shaggy platinum hair, and decides he also needs a haircut. He pulls his shirt off, not wanting to get any hair on it, and tosses it into the bathtub, before rummaging through the cabinet to find the scissors. Once he finds them, he hits play on the same meme-rock playlist, and wastes no time in cutting his hair. 

Small chunks of pale-blond hair float to the floor as he confidently snips away at the overgrown strands. He’s used to cutting his own hair by now, and knows it won’t look half-bad. Even if it does end up looking awful, he knows Seonghwa would be more than happy to fix it up. He stops cutting for a moment. He forgot about Seonghwa. The older will be home from work in about an hour, and Hongjoong just knows he’ll get the lecture of a lifetime when Seonghwa sees what he did. 

Whatever, too late now. 

He continues to cut his hair, now focusing on making it even and neat. After shaking his head and running his hands through it, he decides he needs something more. Thinking for a moment, he pulls the majority of his hair up into a small ponytail and begins to part an even line around his head, pinning up stray pieces with little colourful barrettes. Once he’s satisfied with where the line is, he takes the scissors and starts to cut even more, until it’s too short to go at with the scissors. He throws them back down in the sink and digs through the cabinet once more for the clippers. He starts shaving away the excess hair, feeling himself growing more and more frantic the more he goes on. He just wants it to be done. He doesn’t want to go on, he just wants the change to happen, but he knows he can’t just stop now. So he continues until he’s happy with the result. He unplugs the clippers and moves them aside, pulling out what he needs for bleaching. While he’s mixing it up, he nearly misses the message notification on his lock screen. 

It’s Seonghwa.

Heart dropping, he picks the phone up to read the message:

**Dorkhwa <3:**

_Just got off work, gonna go pick up some dinner. Be home in an hour ish! ^3^ ___

__His throat constricts as he tries not to cry. He doesn’t know why he’s on the verge of tears, he shouldn’t be, there’s no reason for him to be crying. Taking a deep breath, he sends a quick heart emoji and sets his phone to silent, turning back to the task at hand. He picks up the brush and starts to paint the bleach onto his roots, pushing aside all thoughts of Seonghwa for the time being._ _

__\-----_ _

__When Seonghwa opens the door, he notices the lights are all still off. Sighing, he flips the lights on and sees Hongjoong’s tattered Converse laying in the middle of the hallway, obviously kicked off in somewhat of a hurry. He picks them up to put them in their usual spot, right next to Seonghwa’s neon green Crocs. (He never wore them out, of course, but they were a gift from Yeosang, so here they remained.) He toes off his own boots, setting them in their own spot, and makes his way to the kitchen. The sound of the shower running and the faint sound of music floats out from below the bathroom door, confirming the fact that Hongjoong was already home. He sets the bags of takeout on the kitchen counter and heads for their shared bedroom to change into sweatpants and a hoodie. While he’s changing, he hears the shower shut off, causing the music to grow louder. He pauses, trying to hear what the song is. He’s slightly taken aback at the realisation that it is, indeed, Nickelback. Hongjoong never listens to Nickelback. He hasn’t since middle school. He shrugs it off, dismissing it as Hongjoong feeling nostalgic, and continues to the kitchen to dish out their food._ _

__While he bustles around the kitchen, he hears the hair dryer start up, signalling that Hongjoong will be out soon. He continues about dishing out their food before bringing it into the living room and turning on the TV, flipping to Netflix to start up where they left off on Avatar. The hair dryer’s still running, so he pulls his phone out to pass the time. He sees a couple missed notifications from Wooyoung and San, all questions about their history classes, and elects to ignore them for the time being. A moment later, he hears the bathroom door open, followed by the soft pattering of bare feet down the hall. The music’s still playing from the bathroom. Yep, it’s still Nickelback._ _

__“Hwa, are you home?” Hongjoong calls from their bedroom. He sounds nervous. Worry shoots through his system._ _

__“Yeah, I’m in the living room,” he answers. “You okay, babe?” the music stops and the sound of shuffling feet comes down the hall._ _

__“Yeah… I’m okay. Didn’t think you’d be home so soon, is all,” his voice sounds closer, but it still comes from somewhere behind him. He turns around on the couch, and his heart stops._ _

__Hongjoong is standing in the hallway, clad in shorts and one of Seonghwa’s oversized t-shirts, and is now sporting a head of shorter, electric blue hair. He runs a hand through his hair, and… oh. Is that an undercut? Seonghwa can’t tear his eyes away. However unexpected, he can’t deny that he looks amazing._ _

__“Do you like it?” he asks timidly, bracing himself for a lecture._ _

__“Yeah,” he breathes out. A shy smile appears on his lips as he shuffles over to the couch, sitting himself down in Seonghwa’s lap and burying his face in the crook of his neck. He jerks his head up immediately after, holding a hand to his nose._ _

__“Ow,” he groans. “Forgot about the nose,” he quirks an eyebrow._ _

__“What about your nose? Did you hurt it?”_ _

__“No, I got it pierced,” he answers, pulling his hand away to reveal a small, sparkly stud in the side of his nose. Seonghwa gapes. First the hair, now a nose piercing? Hongjoong really is out to kill him. He lifts a hand to rest against Hongjoong’s cheek and presses a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose._ _

__“You’re so damn cute,” he murmurs. “What made you decide to do all this, though? Seems a bit spontaneous,” Hongjoong’s whisper of a smile falls away as he pulls back more. He doesn’t answer for a moment, trying to look everywhere that isn’t Seonghwa._ _

__“I don’t know,” he finally says. “I just… felt like it, I guess? Needed a change,” he feels the adrenaline and manic feelings from earlier drain away as suddenly as they had appeared earlier. Seonghwa frowns at the explanation and the very apparent mood shift._ _

__“What’s the matter?” he asks. Hongjoong sighs, collapsing against Seonghwa’s chest, gripping the fabric of his hoodie as he takes deep, shaky breaths. His arms immediately come around to hold the smaller boy closer and stroke calming patterns across his back. He doesn’t pressure him for an answer, letting him take all the time he needs. After a few moments, he answers._ _

__“I don’t know,” he mumbles. “I’ve been stuck in the same little bubble of feeling shitty and anxious all the time, and it all just… exploded, I guess. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I don’t like it. I know I should be more responsible, but I just needed… something. I don’t know.” they fall back into silence for a moment before Seonghwa speaks up._ _

__“Okay,” he says. “It’s okay that you don’t know. I just want you to know you can always come to me, okay? Even when you don’t even know what’s happening, I’m here for you. I just want you to be happy,” he presses a kiss to the mop of blue hair. “I love you,” he feels Hongjoong relax in his embrace, his hands relaxing their hold on his hoodie in favour of coming around to wind around his torso._ _

__“You’re too nice to me,” he says quietly. “I love you, too,” they lapse back into silence for a while, just holding each other._ _

__“Feeling better?” Seonghwa asks. He feels, rather than sees, Hongjoong nod._ _

__“A little,” is the muffled reply._ _

__“Ready for some Avatar?” at the mention of the show, he immediately sits up and climbs off Seonghwa’s lap to face the TV._ _

__“We were on the episode when they first got to Ba Sing Se,” he says, attention fully focused on the screen. Seonghwa smiles and leans over, planting a soft kiss against his cheek, heart fluttering at the dusty pink blush spreading across Hongjoong’s cheeks._ _

__“Alright, here we go,”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> please leave comments and kudos they always make my day! <3
> 
> much love, my dears ^3^


End file.
